Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Senior Scientific Officer: Ecosystem Assessment Research Project Officer
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Bristol, London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, York
Job Summary
Defra works on issues that profoundly affect people’s lives, including the environment, food and farming, rural communities, and protection from natural threats and hazards.
Within Defra, the International Biodiversity and Climate Directorate (IBC) leads international work to help halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. This includes international negotiations and influencing, as well as policy and legislation, and Official Development Assistance (ODA) programming.
The Senior Scientific Officer will report into the Grade 7 Programme Lead on Ecosystem Assessment and Resilience based in Defra’s International Biodiversity and Climate directorate (IBC). They will work within a new team responsible for designing, piloting, and evaluating innovative approaches for assessing ecosystems using novel metrics of ecosystem function, process and resilience to underpin a new generation of environmental assessments for use in domestic and international contexts.
The postholder will scope and manage a small programme of research projects (5-10 projects), which will develop new approaches to assess the resilience of ecosystems in the UK and overseas. This is likely to include, amongst others, approaches based on functional traits as well as geospatial approaches. They will provide scientific coordination as well as acting as project officer and contract manager.
Recent developments in functional ecology research, data science, multi-variate modelling, environmental monitoring and AI are opening up new opportunities for the ways we monitor, measure, set targets for and manage ecosystems.
Whereas traditional conservation approaches have focused on protecting species and habitats, approaches based on functional ecology and ecosystem science place emphasis on the dynamic processes that keep ecosystems functioning and delivering services. These are the functions and processes that allow them to adapt to changing conditions, provide resilience against shocks, and underpin the ecosystem services upon which humans depend.
Such approaches show promise for applications to assess UK and international ecosystems, supporting policy across a wide range of areas. This includes international applications, for example, mapping international risk of ecosystem collapse, targeting Official Development Assistance funding through aid programmes and evaluating nature finance investments. It also includes important domestic applications, such as informing better spatial planning decisions, targeting agri-environment funding and informing the management of protected areas for biodiversity.
Job Description
Defra is establishing a programme to explore the potential policy applications of such novel ecosystem metrics. It will include workstreams on:
Method development. This workstream will drive innovation, research and knowledge generation for methods for policy-relevant methods for ecosystem assessment. The workstream includes objectives on:
- Evaluating the state of the science for ecosystem-based metrics, tools and frameworks via a literature review and expert elicitation. This will identify promising emerging approaches, which could be applied to policy use cases, and will review frameworks, tools and metrics that can be applied to assess the resilience of ecosystems for specific policy purposes.
- Designing a toolkit for ecosystem assessment. Working with Defra science and policy teams, Defra ALBs and external researchers to develop a modular, demand-driven toolkit that can deploy a suite of tools to service a range of domestic and international policy use cases.
- Research and development. Working with research institutions (initially Imperial College, ZSL, RBG Kew, the Natural History Museum, and the University of Stirling), Defra evidence and policy teams, and ALBs, to develop a programme of R&D that produces metrics and tools for the ecosystem assessment toolkit.
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Policy sandboxes. This workstream will generate an innovative and evidence-led learning platform to test novel approaches to ecosystem assessment developed in workstream one. The workstream includes objectives on:
- Defining and developing policy use cases. Building a multidisciplinary team from Defra and ALBs to produce detailed definitions of possible international and domestic policy use cases with which to test the ecosystem assessment toolkit.
- Testing an ecosystem assessment toolkit against pre-defined use cases and scenarios. Working with evidence and policy colleagues from Defra, ALBs, and academic partners, conduct rigorous, quantitative and qualitative tests of the ecosystem assessment toolkit, following international best practice, to explore the validity and efficacy of the toolkit.
Key Responsibilities
The postholder will develop and manage a programme of R&D to inform the programme. This R&D will develop novel tools and methods that can be tested through the programme. Key responsibilities include:
Research design and management
- Act as Project Officer for all R&D projects associated with the ecosystem assessment programme, and be the main Defra point of contact with external researchers and Defra/ALB technical teams.
- Apply specialist knowledge of ecosystem science to develop a research strategy and identify research priorities for the programme, including a second phase of research.
- Scope, design, procure, manage and deliver new research associated with the programme.
- Quality assure research projects and ensure research outputs meet the highest standards.
- Deploy specialist expertise to build relationships across the sector, identifying and promoting synergies with other research across IBC, Defra, HMG and beyond, and provide scientific and technical input into other Defra research projects/ programmes.
- Support the development of a toolkit for ecosystem assessment, working with technical teams from Defra, ALBs, and academic partners.
Stakeholder engagement, collaboration and communication
- Demonstrate leadership and influencing capabilities in the field of ecosystem science to build relationships with key internal and external stakeholders, partners, and customers, helping them to understand the context for research and drive forward the research programme.
- Act as the key technical contact for internal and external stakeholders and customers relating to programme science and research.
- Communicate scientific, analytical and research objectives and outcomes clearly to all internal and external stakeholders, ensuring appropriate communication for different technical and non-technical audiences.
- Contribute to briefings and submissions to senior officials and Ministers, ensuring communication is scientifically and technically rigorous.
Person specification
Essential Experience
- A scientific background, demonstrated by a PhD or equivalent experience, in ecology, functional ecology, evolutionary ecology, ecosystem science, zoology, or similar.
- Ability to critically interpret, assess and quality assure quantitative ecological analyses, working effectively with specialist analysts and researchers.
- Proven experience managing multiple scientific or analytical research projects or programmes, particularly complex or multi-stakeholder projects.
- Experience exercising scientific judgement on the quality, uncertainty and policy relevance of evidence, including emerging or non-standard methods.
- Experience in translating and communicating complex science to a range of audiences, particularly between academia and policy.
- Experience of collaborating with colleagues beyond your immediate team, particularly experts outside of government (e.g., academia).
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Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Making Effective Decisions
- Working Together
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
- Communicating science and engineering for government - disseminating science and engineering
- Technical oversight and management - technical delivery / project management
Salary
Alongside your salary of £42,665, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs contributes £12,360 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).
Benefits
- Learning and development tailored to your role
- An environment with flexible working options
- A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
- A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.
Application Process
As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a 500 word personal statement & CV. Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.
Please use your personal statement (in no more than 500 words) to set out how you meet the skills and experience for the role.
Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.
Sift
Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the CV only. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment/interview.
Interview
If successful at application stage, you will be invited to interview where we will assess you against the behaviours and technical skills set out in the advert, alongside a five minute presentation.
Your interview will either be conducted face to face or by video. You will be notified of the location if you are selected for interview.
Fixed Term Appointments
This is a fixed-term appointment as a Senior Scientific Officer on the Ecosystem Assessment Research team.
The post is not permanent. It is time limited due to a fixed funding period or as part of a specific project. The fixed term will end when the funding or project expires.
This post will therefore begin from the candidate's start date and end three years later.
Location
As part of the pre-employment process for this post, successful candidate(s) will be able to agree a contractual workplace from those locations listed in this advert. The agreed contractual workplace is then the substantive and permanent place of work for the successful candidate(s).
Where the location is ‘National’ the successful appointee should discuss and agree an appropriate contractual location in line with both Defra’s location policy and site capacity, prior to proceeding with pre-employment processes.
The agreed amount of time spent at
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